Red Right 88

10 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group F

Group F is, by far, the easiest group in South Africa, which means it’s a godsend for defending champion Italy, which always starts slowly. The fight for second will be between Paraguay and Slovakia; New Zealand is in the running to be the worst team ever to go to a World Cup tournament.

Only Brazil have a better World Cup record than Italy. The Azzuri have won the tournament four times – in 1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006 – and, yes, they’re the current holders, thanks to some great penalties, and an astonishing headbutt from Zidane. Qualification was a relative breeze, as Italy went unbeaten and outscored opponents 18-7. But critics will point to the Azzurri’s performances in last summer’s Confederations Cup, when a lethargic and uninspired Italian team underperformed, suffering a 3-0 rout by Brazil and then losing to Egypt to drop out in the first round. The 2008 European Championship was another disappointment, when the club fell out in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Spain (on penalty kicks, to be fair).

It is no secret, nor is it exaggeration, to make the claim that Italy flops (or dives). A lot. Even the Urban Dictionary defines “Italian soccer” as “A special kind of soccer in which the most important skill is the ability to writhe on the field in fake agony until the ref yellow/red cards an opposing player.”

In the land of South American giants, Paraguay is often overlooked. The Paraguay national side, nicknamed La Albirroja or white and red, after the colors of the national flag, is often overshadowed by the heavyweights of CONMEBOL, particularly Argentina and Brazil. Yet with the signing of Gerardo Martino as head coach in 2007, La Albirroja will be showing the world a different form of Paraguayan football.

In making its fourth straight appearance in the World Cup, Paraguay travels to South Africa without its leading goal scorer from qualifying. The absence of striker Salvador Cabanas — who was shot in the head outside a Mexico bar in January (Ahh!!) yet plans to return to action someday soon — might have initially dampened the team’s spirit, but it has also given some other talented forwards the chance to shine on the world’s stage this month.

Expect front men Oscar Cardozo and Nelson Haedo Valdez to be given opportunities on goal for Paraguay, which posted 10 wins during South American qualifying (tied with Chile and more than Argentina and Brazil). The Albirroja started strongly before faltering a bit in the later games of the region’s campaign, but a victory over Argentina last September sealed a World Cup berth with two games to spare.

Is bad karma stalking the team? Paraguayan fans remember that last time, keeper Justo Villar (Real Valladolid), played all of seven minutes of the first match before going off with an injury. The team needs him to stay a little healthier this time and it needs a little better luck all around too.

Slovakia, a World Cup newcomer (at least in its present form), is probably the least expected team in South Africa and it got here with a powerful offense that carried it to the top of a group that included arch-rival the Czech Republic, as well as Poland and Slovenia. So, if we’re talking surprises, put the whole squad on the list since even soccer aficionados don’t know most of the players on this team, much less the local squads for whom they play. They do have Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, who gives the Slovaks a top-flight central defender to marshal the back line. The 6-foot-3 defender was also a promising ice hockey player, and has made 74 appearances for Liverpool in three seasons.

New Zealand made its only previous appearance at the World Cup in Spain 28 years ago. Over the course of three heavy defeats to Brazil, the USSR and Scotland, they scored twice and conceded 12 goals. Football has moved on in New Zealand since, but the All Whites’ path to the World Cup finals (assured by beating the likes of Fiji and Bahrain) doesn’t seem adequate preparation for the tests ahead.

There are three things to remember about this New Zealand side. Its best result in a major competition is a 0-0 draw with Iraq. Its top professional club side (Wellington Phoenix) plays in the Australian league. Its squad contains two veterans (Simon Elliott and David Mulligan) who are currently unattached to clubs. Take these facts together and it’s clear that a modest improvement on New Zealand’s 1982 results will represent a huge step forward.

Also, over the course of the past 18 months, the team has lost matches to Tanzania, Fiji and Thailand. New Zealand doesn’t simply have the worst team in this group. It’s very likely the worst team at the tournament and maybe, even, in the history of the World Cup.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here, here and here.

Posted in Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia, World Cup | Leave a comment

09 Jun 2010

History is Not on Our Side

Waiting for Next Year is reporting that Tom Izzo plans to take the Cavs coaching job. If this turns out to be true, and those guys deserve credit for being out ahead on this story, then we are all witnessing the death of the Cavs as a viable NBA franchise.

Izzo is a very good college coach – but that’s what he is, a college coach. While the basics of the game are the same on the NBA level, it’s simply just not the same game.

Consider this from Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen, who wrote about Billy Donovan possibly moving to the NBA three years ago:

It takes NBA coaches years to develop the understanding and respect necessary to connect with players and earn their trust toward a common goal. … To become a successful NBA head coach, Donovan would have to take a costly step backward and enter the league as an assistant. He would need many seasons of deprogramming to unlearn much of what made him successful at Florida. Put it this way: The NCAA and NBA both have rule books as thick as bibles, but that’s the only thing they share in common. …How can any college coach who is used to wielding power over his players be expected to succeed overnight in an NBA world where he’ll be granted little or no power over his players? … If Donovan jumped to a veteran team, his players would quickly realize that they knew more about the pro game than their coach. That would not end nicely. … The NBA season is so much longer, and the games are so much more complicated strategically, that any college coach would need at least one season to work his way up.

Does that sound like something we want to go through as Cavs fans? Wait 2 to 3 years for Izzo to figure out the NBA game, assuming he does?

How about this from Steve Aschburner at NBA.com:

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ reported interest in Michigan State coach Tom Izzo as a replacement for Mike Brown, their recently fired head coach, elicited differing views from the two fellows who hold that job with The Finals teams.

A number of successful college coaches haven’t achieved similar results when they’ve moved to the NBA, including Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Mike Montgomery, Tim Floyd and (going back a ways) Jerry Tarkanian. Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked: Why?

“It’s not an easy job,” Jackson said, “and when it’s 200-some days depending on how far you go into the playoffs, it’s a pretty arduous task as far as dealing with the stars of all ranges … It’s a long march and that gets difficult. The game itself – 82 games is a big difference from 30 or whatever you coach in college.”

“If you look at it historically, they’ve all had bad jobs,” Boston Doc Rivers said. “They’ve all had bad talent on their team. I think the first one that gets good players will be a good coach in our league. … There are a lot of college coaches that would be very good NBA coaches.”

Now Rivers makes a valid point. Bad teams hire more coaches than good teams. But maybe good teams are that way because they know not to hire a college coach. But he overlooks the cases where, after firing the college-bred coach, a team improved the following year. Consider:

Boston was 12-22 (works out to 28 wins) when they fired Rick Pitino; they went 49-33 the following year.
New Jersey was 3-17 (12 projected wins) when they fired John Calipari; they won 31 games the next year.
Chicago was 4-21 (13 projected wins) when they fired Tim Floyd; 30 wins the following season.
San Antonio was 9-11 (36 projected wins) when Jerry Tarkanian was let go; 55 wins the following year.
Washington was 19-63 in Leonard Hamilton’s only season; they won 37 games the next season.
Philadelphia was 21-31 (33 projected wins) when they let Randy Ayers go; 43 wins the following year.
Oklahoma City was 1-12 (6 projected wins) when they fired PJ Carlesimo; they won 50 games the following year.
Golden State was 34-48 under Mike Montgomery; the following year they won 42 games.

Clearly, none of these teams turned into NBA champions after dropping the college coach. But they all did improve, which takes the air out of the argument that the coaches failed simply because they did not have any talent. A lot of the failings fall on the coaches’ shoulders.

Look, we want this to work out if it happens. We all want the Cavs to succeed. The past five years have been a lot of fun, we’re really not keen to return to the days of John Lucas, Randy Wittman and the rest.

But if Dan Gilbert is going to start running this team with his heart, rather than his head, we may all be in trouble.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, despar, doom, man crushes, NBA coaches, Tom Izzo | Leave a comment

09 Jun 2010

An Easy Answer

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein

Kelly Dwyer asks a simple question in his column on Yahoo! Sports: Can Tom Izzo succeed in the NBA?

Let’s save everyone the trouble as the answer is simple: NO!

It’s not hard to figure out: college coaches fail in the NBA. Repeatedly. Every single one hired in the past 30 years has failed.

Why would Izzo, in Cleveland, be the exception?

As usual, Terry Pluto nailed it in today’s PD:

He’s never been in the league in any capacity. He’s never had to surrender complete control of his schedule, as college coaches often have input in picking non-league opponents.

A college coach also selects his own roster. He isn’t stuck with an aging star or a disgruntled talent because of the huge contract and the salary cap — meaning it’s impossible to cut or trade the guy for months.

Most college coaches are control freaks. The pros quickly teach you how little is under your control. If an owner allows a college coach to select players, is that a wise idea? What background does he have in really knowing what players thrive in the NBA?

The history of NBA coaches whose primary experience is college is dismal. The failures include Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Lon Kruger, Mike Montgomery, P.J. Carlisimo and Jerry Tarkanian. You can mention Larry Brown, but first he was a pro player in the old American Basketball Association, then coached in the ABA before making some college stops.

The Cavs went through the NBA wasteland after they fired Lenny Wilkens in 1993. Mike Fratello, Randy Wittman, John Lucas, Keith Smart and Paul Silas all worked together to make the team irrelevant in the NBA.

We’ve rather enjoyed the past five years of Cavs basketball, playoff failures not withstanding. We’d prefer the team not go back to being an afterthought on the NBA landscape.

But that’s exactly where the team is heading if owner Dan Gilbert continues down the road he is currently traveling.

And we are not enjoying the ride.

Posted in Insanity, NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, Tom Izzo | Leave a comment

08 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group E

This group has a colorful set of teams that range from attack-minded to more defensively oriented. There’s a clear favorite in the Netherlands and a team clearly expected to bring up the rear in Japan, with Denmark and Cameroon expected to fight for advancement.

Indeed, although neither Denmark nor especially Cameroon will necessarily be pleased to settle for second place, the match between the two on June 19 does figure to be the key to the group. Were Denmark to draw — or defeat — the Netherlands in its opening match, it might give the Danes more license to dictate the pace against Cameroon, figuring a tie would suit them well enough with the match against Japan left. But were Denmark to lose the opening match, there would be more pressure on Denmark to open up its game, a pace that would figure to favor the Indombitable Lions.

The Dutch made their mark on world football in the 1970s with the introduction of Totaalvoetbal, or total football. This system is characterized by a fluid style of play, with the formation having more importance than position. In other words, players are not constrained in their positional roles, but are able to play throughout the field. More than three decades later, their style of play remains one of the most beautiful and influential, with Arsenal and Barcelona two of the best-known clubs emulating Holland today.

Although the 2010 Netherlands national team is considered to be among the top five squads in the world, supporting the Oranje doesn’t guarantee immunity to heartache. Like Spain, Holland enjoyed a magnificent qualifying round, as they coasted through eight victories, making them one of the form-teams in the world at the moment. But Holland has a bit of a reputation for falling apart at critical junctures. As always, the Dutch will play some of the prettiest soccer in the tournament. But if past form holds true, they’ll play one iffy game when it counts and go out before the finals. Still, the talent for a run is always there. Although the loss of Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robben for the opening game doesn’t help.

Cameroon has been somewhat synonymous with African soccer since their World Cup quarterfinal run in 1990, but their bite hasn’t matched their roar since. The Lions have managed only one win in their last nine World Cup matches, exiting after the first round in 1994, ’98 and ’02, while missing out completely in 2006.

The Indomitable Lions had a difficult qualifying campaign and will be without Michael Essien, but they emerged atop a group that included Togo, Gabon and Morocco. The Lions were relatively quiet at the African Nations Cup, edging into the quarters where they were beaten soundly by eventual champion Egypt. Nevertheless, Samuel Eto’o heads an experienced team with serious aspirations of making some noise in South Africa.

Denmark arrives at the 2010 World Cup with possibly its best squad of footballers since they won the European Championship in 1992. Morten Olsen’s blend of young and old topped a tough qualification group that included Portugal and archrival Sweden. Denmark has made the last 16 on its two previous appearances at the Word Cup finals, and with opening matches against the Netherlands, Cameroon and Japan this time around, you would not bet against the Danes’ repeating the achievement. Denmark went through 35 players in its first few matches, but settled on a squad after that and won a very tough group while conceding only five goals in ten games. What may be missing here is a striker in his prime, as standby Jon Dahl Tomasson is now 33 and Nicklas Bendtner, just 22, is still coming into his own.

Japan has become a World Cup fixture in the past decade, with South Africa 2010 representing its fourth straight finals appearance. Yet the Blue Samurai have never won a World Cup game on foreign turf: Its two group-stage wins came on home soil during the 2002 finals.

A lack of offense could be a problem when facing opposing strikers who are more clinical in front of goal, but a number of the team’s stars who now see action for European club sides — such as midfielders Makoto Hasebe and Keisuke Honda — are aiming to lead Japan to a surprise run to the knockout rounds.

Japan is one of those teams that seems to know its place, dominating inferior opponents but seldom challenging stronger ones, as a 3-1 loss to South Korea in the East Asian Championship and a 3-0 loss to Serbia in the Kirin Cup attest. For whatever reason, Japan has matched up well against African teams, going 5-0-1 against them since 2007 while outscoring them 16-4.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Posted in Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, World Cup | Leave a comment

07 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group D

This is probably the toughest group in the tournament. Germany should take the top spot; after that it’s a tossup on who among Serbia, Ghana and Australia will take the second qualifying position.

Germany made the semifinals as the host country four years ago, but is in a state of transition as it welcomes some young players to the squad. They are also dealing with the injury to team leader Michael Ballack, a player that coach Joachim Löw called “irreplaceable.” One of the world’s most prolific teams, Germany is facing some difficulties in attack as Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich) has been on the bench for the Bundesliga champions, and Lukas Podolski (Cologne) has scored just three goals this season. The hope is that coach Löw’s belief in the players can bring back their confidence to help lead Germany to another strong World Cup run.

The Germans could be the ones to watch, having breezed through the group stages undefeated. They also have a particularly strong World Cup record, having won the thing three times (1954, 1974, 1990), and made it all the way to the final on a further four occasions (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002). Even if the Germans do emerge winning the group, they could face both Argentina and Spain on the road to another possible final.

Ghana did well last time, emerging from 2006’s “group of death” before losing in the round of 16 to Brazil. That was one of the youngest teams in Germany, so this is essentially the same team, with a few more youngsters thrown in, given that Ghana won the Under-20 World Cup last year. The 20-year-old rising star defender Samuel Inkoom (Basle) is on the team, as are midfielder Agyemang Badu (Udinese), midfielder Dede Ayew (Arlese Avignon), and striker Dominic Adiyah (Milan).

Although it was the first African team to qualify (save for the hosts), Ghana is probably not the best team on the continent, an honor that would go to Ivory Coast or perhaps Cameroon (or even Egypt, which didn’t make the tournament but won the African Nations Cup). In particular, Ghana lacks the striking talent of some of the other African clubs.

This will be the first year that Serbia enters a World Cup as just Serbia. Last time they were shackled by Montenegro, and before that they were more commonly known as Yugoslavia. Hence, all there is to really go on is the qualifying campaign, in which they managed to win their group, which included France and Romania. This is a dangerous team, which plays just the kind of soccer that could thrive at altitude. Unfortunately in the first round, none of its games are at the highest elevations. The White Eagles’ squad includes several stars of European soccer, including Nemanja Vidic — who missed the 2006 tournament with injury — and Dejan Stankovic.

The 20th ranked Aussies are a tenacious, defensive-minded squad who play obstructive, bruising football with little regard for their own safety. This is not to call them reckless, but as any of their first-round opponents last time found out, the Socceroos are a friend to shin guard suppliers everywhere. They play unapologetically slow, brutal soccer. Australia is quite a decent team, but it got this impossible draw so unless it can pull off some unexpected upsets, it could well be going home after three games.

With a veteran squad looking to build on a Round of 16 performance at Germany 2006, Australia will be making a third appearance in the World Cup, yet its first as a representative from the Asian confederation after switching FIFA regions four years ago.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here and here. And also here.

Posted in Germany, Ghana, Serbia, World Cup | Leave a comment

06 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group C

Depending on who you believe, “The hype surrounding this group could move mountains. That’s because it contains the Cup’s two most overrated teams, at least by their fans – England and the USA. But interestingly, Group C also has two of South Africa’s more underrated squads – Algeria and particularly Slovenia. Upsets are definitely possible in a group without a truly dominant squad.”

Or, “When the United States dramatically drew into England’s group, it looked as though Group C might be the proverbial ‘group of death.’ But then came two middling teams, Slovenia and Algeria, which softened the group and left no ambiguity about which teams will be expected to advance.”

Either way, this should be an entertaining group. With the USA/England game set for the opening match in this group, we should get a good early read on how the Americans will fare this time. According to ESPN’s analysis, even if the US can’t pick up a point in this game, they should still be in a solid position to advance, unlike 2006 when they never recovered from losing the first game.

England is the one team that should hold a special place in the hearts of Cleveland fans. Since winning the World Cup in 1966, the Three Lions have had heartbreaking losses to rival those of Cleveland. Since failing to qualify for Euro 2008, the English have played nearly impeccable soccer, compiling a pristine 9-0-1 record and plus-28 goal differential in UEFA qualifying. Their home league is arguably the best in the world – although the physical nature of the league leaves players worn out for the World Cup. They also drew into a relatively forgiving group and have the third-highest Soccer Power Index score behind only Brazil and Spain.

But injuries have already hit the team, as they lost captain Rio Ferdinand on Friday for the tournament. For a team with a possible fragile psyche, you never know what kind of impact that will have.

No matter what, though, England will always have their WAGs.

The USA should advance from this group as long as they don’t repeat their 2002 flop in Germany, where they lost twice and only pulled one point from the group stage. If that team shows up, they’re doomed.

Hopefully, we get the team from last year’s Confederations’ Cup that beat Spain – ending the European champions’ 35-match unbeaten streak. That was followed by a close loss to Brazil in the finals, giving the Americans a much-needed boost in confidence. Since then, the U.S. lost a much-anticipated qualifier in Mexico and has subsequently lost friendlies to Slovakia, Denmark and the Netherlands – matches where the States juggled injuries to Clint Dempsey, Oguchi Onyewu, and Charlie Davies. While results have not met the expectations set by the Spain win, the inability to get a healthy squad in place has given fans reason to hope last June’s results can be replicated, should the United States return to health.

Tim Howard in goal should be an additional plus in the game vs. England as Howard will be familiar with the England squad as he’s the No. 1 goalkeeper at Everton.

And the US will have at least one person of influence in South Africa rooting against them: South Africa’s police chief, General Bheki Sele: “Our famous prayer is that the Americans don’t make the second round,” he said, afraid that moving on in the tournament would bring President Barack Obama to South Africa to watch, creating a security nightmare.

According to ESPN, “The Slovenians played fine soccer in World Cup qualifying — including a playoff against Russia in which they advanced on the away-goals rule — but they did so out of a relatively weak group and after having performed terribly in their last major competition, Euro ’08, in which they failed to qualify and finished ahead of only Luxembourg in their group. Few of their players dot the rosters of the elite clubs in Europe. Slovenia has a fairly young roster and certainly seems to be on something of an upward trajectory — but if it were to advance from the group, it would mean that England or the United States failed to live up to expectations.”

And with their disciplined defense and propensity to score late in games (in contrast to the English and Americans), they could spring a surprise.

Algeria is one of the weakest teams (ranked 62nd in the world) to make the competition. Algeria qualified by upsetting Egypt in a playoff but was outmatched by the Egyptians when the teams played again in the African Nations Cup, with Algeria losing 4-0. More recently, it lost badly to Serbia in a 3-0 home friendly in March. Oof. The team is also upset that news leaked out that they will only get bonuses if they advance from the group, not just on a per-match basis. Not a good time in the week leading up to the start of the tournament.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here, here and here.

Posted in England, Slovenia, United States, WAGs, World Cup | Leave a comment

05 Jun 2010

No coach, no GM … no Problem?

“Danny Ferry and their ownership have proven they care deeply about winning and about people. That is a winning combination to sell.” – Jeff Van Gundy

Well, not so much anymore. With Danny Ferry’s surprise resignation as GM on Friday, the Cavs’ winning combination has taken a big hit and no one may be buying what they are trying to sell.

It’s obvious that despite the unprecedented success the team has enjoyed the past five years under Ferry and former coach Mike Brown, owner Dan Gilbert has decided he knows best. Ferry wanted to keep Brown, understanding that finding a new coach that would improve the team would be a difficult, possibly impossible task.

Terry Pluto summed it up in today’s PD: “Ferry could have signed an extension to remain with the team. His contract expires June 30. But after five years — the best five years in franchise history — it’s obvious Ferry and team owner Dan Gilbert had a significant disagreement.

“A good guess is the coaching situation.”

Great. Instead of staying out of the way and letting his basketball people do the job they were hired for, Gilbert has decided to insert himself into the process. That always ends well when owners get “hands on.”

Art Garcia, writing on NBA.com, asks a chilling question: Is it possible that the departures of a wildly successful coach and an equally accomplished general manager are good for a franchise?

This is Cleveland, Art. That answer seems pretty obvious.

He continues:

“Last week’s firing of Mike Brown and Friday’s resignation of Danny Ferry would signal chaos, especially considering what’s been achieved in Cleveland the last five years. Sure the Cavaliers didn’t win a title, and despite having the best record in the league didn’t get out of the Eastern Conference playoffs the last two years, but just line up the teams in the league that would gladly trade places with Cleveland.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty darn long line.

“Dan Gilbert also needs to make sure everyone in the organization is 100 percent behind the LeBron Plan, whatever it is.

“Ferry wasn’t anymore. He felt uneasy with dismissing the coach he hired, and has watched Gilbert take on a more active role in day-to-day operations, further comprising his sphere of influence. Ferry stated publicly before firing Brown that his goal was to continue to build a championship organization under Gilbert. Clearly, Ferry’s role in that project had changed.”

Gilbert does deserve credit for having a plan in place with Ferry’s departure, naming Chris Grant as GM. But will Grant have the same power and ability to battle the owner when Gilbert wants to make a move that hinders the progress of the team?

It’s amazing that the situation has gotten this far, this fast. Was it really only a few weeks ago that Cavs fans were dreaming of an NBA title? And now we’re wondering who the next coach will be and looking at a rookie GM running the show in the “Summer of LeBron.”

Just another day in the paradise of Cleveland sports.

Posted in Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland sports, Danny Ferry, NBA coaches, sinking ship, uncertainty | Leave a comment

03 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group B

According to ESPN, on paper, this is one of the less compelling groups. There is little in the way of natural rivalries. The group did not draw one of the elite European sides. There is a clear front-runner in Argentina and a clear No. 2 in Nigeria, which isn’t necessarily better than Greece or South Korea (the latter three squads are bunched closely together between No. 32 and No. 38 in the SPI rankings). But the Nigerians will benefit from playing on their home continent.

With Lionel Messi on the field, arguably the best player in the world, Argentina is the clear favorite in this group, But with Diego Maradona at the helm – he seriously may be insane – there’s no telling what could happen with this team. Maradona went through 78 players on the roster during the qualifying rounds and, when it came time to name the final squad, left off defender Javier Zanetti and midfielder Esteban Cambiasso, who both just happened to win the Champions League with Inter Milan. Their toughest match, against Nigeria, is their first one, and if they were to drop it, one can imagine Maradona panicking and giving away what should be relatively easy points against South Korea and Greece.

Nigeria looks like the safe pick to grab the second qualifying spot from this group. The Super Eagles like to play it safe, putting up five 0-0 draws in the span of 12 months and not scoring more than a single goal against another World Cup qualifier since 2008. The Nigerians may try to play for the draw against Argentina, figuring they can pick up at least four points in their matches against South Korea and Greece. Of course, they did fire their coach after qualifying for the World Cup, so this is another team where you just never know.

South Korea has added a goal-scoring edge to its lineup with Park Chu-Young joining striker Lee Dong-Gook. And don’t forget about Man United’s Park Ji-Sung. They were the only unbeaten team in Asian qualifying, but since then have been inconsistent, losing 3-0 to China but beating Ivory Coast.

Greece is bringing many of the players from its Euro 2004 championship squad, the same group that lost all three of its games in Euro 2008. The Greeks play deliberate soccer, they seldom attack except on counters and free kicks. Playing such a methodical style requires players who know the system, which is why there aren’t that many squad members who ply their trade overseas and there are nine who play at Greece’s best known club team, Panathinaikos. They were also helped by a qualifying group that included Luxembourg, Latvia and Moldova.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here and here.

Posted in Greece, Nigeria, South Korea, World Cup | Leave a comment

03 Jun 2010

Dude!

With the Indians actually riding a winning streak – OK, it was just one game – and facing Armando Galarraga, who entered the game with a career record of 20-18 and making only his fourth start of the season, there was a real chance the Tribe could get a little momentum going.

So, of course, Galarraga comes out and throws a near perfect game, retiring the first 26 batters before firstbase umpire Jim Joyce makes one of the worst calls possible, somehow missing the fact that Jason Donald was out by at least a step on his ground ball to first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

While it seems hard to believe Galarraga could come up with such a dominating performance, it shouldn’t be that surprising – the Indians entered the game 12th in the league in hitting and fielded a lineup with five players hitting under .260 on the season.

If every game was this interesting, we might actually tune in more often.

Posted in Cleveland Indians, joke | Leave a comment

02 Jun 2010

World Cup Preview – Group A

With the start of the World Cup only nine days away, it’s time to start looking at the 32 teams making up the tournament. Today we’re starting with Group A: Mexico, Uruguay, France and South Africa, listed in order of projected finish.

This is a wide open group, one that should be the most competitive in the tournament. Mexico appears to be the favorite. After struggling early in qualifying under former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, El Tri brought back coach Javier Aguirre, who guided the team to five straight wins to earn a spot in South Africa. They’ve made it out of the group stage in their last four World Cup appearances and they seem to be the least flawed team in this group.

France reached the final in the 2006 World Cup, losing to Italy, thanks in part to Zidane’s famous head butt. Les Bleus are led by coach Raymond Domenech, aka “Le Crackpot,” who is known for basing his player choices on horoscope readings. Plus a few of the players have been in a spot of trouble back home. They won it all in 1998 but then struggled in 2002, not getting out of the group stage. But in this group, they should still have enough to advance, especially if they can pull out a win in the opener against Uruguay.

Uruguay has only one win in its last 14 World Cup matches, that coming in 1990. The team failed to beat Venezuela, Ecuador and Costa Rica at home during qualifying, so they may be a bit fragile mentally to advance. But if they can get their offense going, led by strikers Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, they could challenge in this group. Forlan lead Atletico Madrid to this year’s Europa League title, while Suarez has scored more than a goal per game for Ajax.

South Africa earned a spot as the host country, but that’s about all it has going for it. The team can’t score – it netted only two goals in five games in last year’s Confederation’s Cup. Even with an automatic invite, the team played in the African qualifying matches where they didn’t make it out of the group stage. The host nation has never been eliminated in the group stage, but enjoy Bafana Bafana while you can, because it looks to be three and out for the hosts.

Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here and here. Oh, and here.

Posted in France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay, World Cup | Leave a comment